Temporary floating breakwater and causeway with simulated beach and kelp

ABSTRACT

A durable, quickly deployable temporary floating breakwater (FBW) can protect areas in austere locations. A plurality of inflatable modules is encapsulated within a common cover, which holds the modules together and in some embodiments supports a causeway thereupon. A separate floating causeway can be included. Embodiments include a semi-permeable “sloping beach” section which causes waves to break before reaching the FBW. A bed of wave-energy-absorbing synthetic kelp can be attached to the sloping beach. The beach and/or kelp can include low-surface-energy fibers and films, such as olefins and polypropylenes, to remove oil from the water in case of an oil spill or accident. In embodiments, the FBW can be temporarily sunk to avoid extremely high seas, ice, and/or other surface hazards. The FBW is lightweight, can be quickly and compactly stowed, and in some embodiments can be transported and deployed from the deck of an LCU 1610.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/222,230, filed Jul. 1, 2009, which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to marine deployable apparatus, and moreparticularly to temporary floating breakwaters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Permanent breakwater structures are offshore concrete or earthenrevetments designed to provide coastal defense and mitigate shorelineerosion by absorbing and dissipating sea state intensity and surfconditions. They are often used to extend and enhance protection toharbors and seaports, and may also provide a secondary function as acauseway or travel corridor for land vehicles or foot traffic. The mass,logistics, and labor required to construct a conventional breakwatermakes them impractical for remote areas. Temporary, floating breakwaterdesigns have shown some successes. However, such structures typicallyare intended to attenuate waves with heights not exceeding 4 feet.Practical applications of these temporary structures demand much greatereffectiveness in open ocean environments where wave heights up to 12feet are common during storm conditions. To effectively attenuate seastate conditions of this magnitude, temporary floating structuresaccording to previously disclosed designs would need to be massive,requiring the transport of large volumes of physical structures, mooringlines and anchors to the site being sheltered. This approach is simplynot feasible when the quick establishment of a protected area isrequired.

Mooring Forces

The US Navy manual for mooring equipment (Mooring Design Physical &Empirical Data Vessel & Ship Characteristics, Mooring Lines & ChainBuoys, Anchors & Riser Type Mooring Systems DESIGN MANUAL 26.6 APRIL1986, herein incorporated by reference) sets out the basicconsiderations for keeping a Floating Breakwater (FBW) in place. Anyfloating structure is dependent on its mooring system to maintainposition. A FBW by design is moored to a lee shore, which is anundesirable configuration for a floating object. Under storm conditions,if mooring lines chafe or anchors drag, there is no space or time torespond. A floating breakwater that is driven into the surf zone andpounded between the bottom and breakers will be a total loss.

In general, the design of a robust mooring system is the most importantsingle issue in the design of a breakwater. For a FBW system, mooringloads are generated not just from wave action, but also from wind andcurrent. According to published studies on floating breakwaters andrealistic sea state requirements, a rough order of magnitude estimate isthat each 25 feet of FBW exposure will require 20,000 lbs of mooringcapacity. According to navy ratings for anchors, the mooring capacity ofan anchor is approximately 15 times the anchor mass. Further designconsiderations indicate an anchor specification of 2 tons per 25 ft ofbreakwater length. Coast Guard data for buoy moorings suggest that thesevalues may not be conservative.

Floating Breakwater Configurations:

Each shoreline has a unique set of conditions for wind wave and currentaction, and Floating Breakwater Systems can be designed and configuredto address various combinations. The most basic configuration of a FBWconcept is shown in FIG. 1. The unit 100 is moored parallel to the shore102 and facing the prevailing wind and wave direction 104. Thisconfiguration has been well studied, and provides 60-80% reduction ofwave energy in flume testing (see MOORING FORCES AND MOTION RESPONSES OFPONTOON-TYPE FLOATING BREAKWATERS, S. A. Sannasiraj, V. Sundar and R.Sundaravadivelu, Ocean Engineering Centre, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Madras 600 036, India, Received 1 May 1996, hereinincorporated by reference).

This arrangement has the greatest shore system length, and provides themost direct solution for the most important set of shore wind and waveconditions. This configuration permits sheltered vessels 106 to operateup-wind and down-wind, and to moor with either bow or stern facing intothe weather. In addition, any along-shore current 108 does not addsignificantly to the mooring load, as the projection of the FBW of FIG.1 is favorable in the along-shore direction. In contrast, theconfiguration of FIG. 4 has twice the system length and will be subjectto very large mooring forces if there is significant along-shorecurrent. However the Army RIBs configuration reflects a large proportionof the wave energy and therefore reduces its mooring load.

An important consideration in the design of the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 2, where the shoreline and the wind-wave directionare at 45 degrees. This configuration shows the difficulty of satisfyingall the current and wind preferences in a non-orthogonal situation ofwind, shore, and current. In the design shown, the FBW is in a goodalignment to the weather—it will reflect some of the wave energy andabsorb the rest to keep the wave action in the anchorage low. Howeverthe wind action on the moored ships is far from optimal.

The configuration of FIG. 3 provides for a partial solution in which thewind and anchorage directions are aligned, and some reflection andabsorption of wave actions results from the angle of the FBW. However,the current adds to the mooring loads on the FBW. It should be pointedout that the configurations of FIGS. 2 and 3 have the advantage ofpermitting the use of a decked FBW to double as a causeway for vehicletransport directly to shore. The potential elimination of a separatecauseway requirement may compensate for the other drawbacks of thesenon-orthogonal case. The configuration of FIG. 1 has the mostflexibility and the best logistics.

What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus and method for providing aportable, re-usable, floating breakwater that can be deployed in variousconfigurations as needed, and can withstand realistic sea conditionswith waves up to 12 feet in height.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A reusable, temporary Floating Breakwater (FBW) is claimed that includesa plurality of inflated modules enclosed by an encapsulating cover so asto join the inflated modules together, thereby providing redundantbuoyancy and in some embodiments also providing support thereupon for acauseway without need of a rigid beam. Various embodiments also includea semi-permeable “sloping beach” section that causes waves to breakbefore reaching the FBW. Some of these embodiments also include a bed ofwave-energy-absorbing material that approximates the naturalwave-absorbing activity of kelp. And in some embodiments, the kelpand/or synthetic beach include low surface energy fibers and/or filmssuch as olefins and polypropylenes to remove oil from both surface andwater columns and the surface zone in the event of an oil spill oraccident.

In certain embodiments, the claimed FBW can be temporarily sunk whennecessary so as to avoid damage due to hazards such as extremely highseas and/or ice.

Component Level Design of the Floating Breakwater

Embodiments of the present invention use low-mass inflatable materials.In some embodiments, the base material is a urethane-coated Vectran™woven with a tensile strength of 2500 lbf/inch.

One general aspect of the present invention is a temporary floatingbreakwater which includes a plurality of inflatable modules and anencapsulating fabric cover configured for surrounding the inflatablemodules when they are inflated, and thereby maintaining the inflatablemodules in close proximity to one another. The floating breakwater whendeployed is of sufficient size and has suitable characteristics forprotecting shorelines and watercraft from waves having heights of morethan 10 feet.

Some embodiments further include a semi-permeable sloping beach sectionwhich is extendable from the encapsulating fabric cover so as to causeapproaching waves to break before reaching the encapsulating fabriccover. In some of these embodiments the sloping beach section includesat least one of low surface energy fibers and films such as olefins andpolypropylenes configured to remove oil from both surface and watercolumns and the surface zone in the event of an oil spill or accident.Other of these embodiments further include a bed of simulated floatingkelp material attached to the sloping beach and configured for absorbingenergy from waves approaching the encapsulating fabric cover. And insome of these embodiments the bed of simulated floating kelp materialincludes at least one of low surface energy fibers and films such asolefins and polypropylenes configured to remove oil from both surfaceand water columns and the surface zone in the event of an oil spill oraccident.

Various embodiments further include a rigid top deck of textile cellsintegral with the encapsulating cover and supportable by the pluralityof inflatable modules so as to serve as a causeway. In some embodimentsthe plurality of inflatable modules can be deflated so as to temporarilysink the floating breakwater and thereby avoid damage due to surfacehazards. And in certain embodiments each inflatable module includes aplurality of air-enclosing flotation bladders.

In some embodiments the inflatable floating modules are configured forfilling with urethane foam. In certain embodiments the inflatablemodules are one of square and rectangular in cross section. And variousembodiments further include a floating causeway formed by a plurality offloating modules and a causeway top surface supported thereby.

Certain embodiments further include mooring points suitable forattachment of mooring lines thereto. In some of these embodiments themooring points are each able to sustain 25 k lbf applied by a mooringline. In other of these embodiments the mooring points includeabrasion-resistant sacrificial nylon layers. And still other of theseembodiments further include a plurality of mooring lines and a pluralityof anchors configured for stabilizing a location of the floatingbreakwater when deployed on a body of water. In some of theseembodiments the plurality of anchors includes at least one vacuum pileanchoring system.

Another general aspect of the present invention is a temporary floatingbreakwater system which includes a plurality of inflatable floatingbreakwater support modules, an encapsulating fabric cover configured forsurrounding the inflatable floating breakwater support modules when theyare inflated, and thereby maintaining the inflatable floating breakwatermodules in close proximity to one another, a floating causeway formed bya plurality of floating causeway modules and a causeway top surfacewhich is supportable thereby, and a plurality of mooring lines andanchors configured for stabilizing a location of the floating breakwaterand floating causeway when the floating breakwater and floating causewayare deployed on a body of water. The floating breakwater system whendeployed is of sufficient size and has suitable characteristics forprotecting shorelines and watercraft from waves having heights of morethan 10 feet.

In various embodiments the floating breakwater system is configured forpackaging in a plurality of containers suitable for simultaneoustransport on the deck of vessel having a size and generalcharacteristics comparable to an LCU 1610 class vessel. And in some ofthese embodiments the temporary floating breakwater system is configuredfor deployment from the deck of the vessel with the assistance of autility vessel.

The features and advantages described herein are not all-inclusive and,in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings,specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that thelanguage used in the specification has been principally selected forreadability and instructional purposes, and not to limit the scope ofthe inventive subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified top view illustrating a typical configuration ofa FBW where the direction of the prevailing waves and wind isperpendicular to the shore;

FIG. 2 is a simplified top view illustrating a typical configuration ofa FBW where the direction of the prevailing waves and wind is oblique tothe shore;

FIG. 3 is a simplified top view illustrating a typical configuration ofa FBW where the direction of the prevailing waves and wind is parallelto the shore;

FIG. 4 is a simplified top view illustrating an alternate configurationof a FBW where the direction of the prevailing waves and wind isperpendicular to the shore;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention which includes a sloping beach section with artificialkelp;

FIG. 6 is a simplified top view of a layout of a preferred embodimentincluding a 300 foot breakwater and a 600 foot causeway;

FIG. 7 is a simplified, close-up top, front, and side view of anembodiment with a causeway supported by separated round floats;

FIG. 8 is a simplified, close-up top, front, and side view of anembodiment supported by adjacent round floats having a causewaysupported by top deck beams;

FIG. 9A is a simplified, close-up top and side view of an embodimentsupported by adjacent round floats having a causeway which does notrequire top deck beams;

FIG. 9B is a close-up cross-sectional view of the floats of FIG. 9A;

FIG. 10 is a simplified top view illustrating transportation of apreferred embodiment on an LCU vessel;

FIG. 11 is a simplified top view illustrating the first step indeployment of the embodiment of FIG. 10 from the LCU vessel;

FIG. 12 is a simplified top view illustrating the second step indeployment of the embodiment of FIG. 10 from the LCU vessel;

FIG. 13 is a simplified top view illustrating the third step indeployment of the embodiment of FIG. 10 from the LCU vessel;

FIG. 14 is a simplified top view illustrating the fourth step indeployment of the embodiment of FIG. 10 from the LCU vessel; and

FIG. 15 is a simplified top view illustrating the fifth step indeployment of the embodiment of FIG. 10 from the LCU vessel;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Main Tube and FBW Floats

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of the presentinvention in which an inflatable floating breakwater (“FBW”) 500 isdeployed at 300 feet. The total packed volume of the inflatable portionof this 300′ system as shown in the cross section of FIG. 5 can bepacked in a single 20′ ISO container. The elimination of mechanicaljoints between inflated sections is a major feature of this approach,since hinges with solid pivot points are large, heavy, and prone tofailure from wave action on a FBW. The embodiment of FIG. 5 alsoprovides redundant flotation chambers 502 by enclosing a plurality ofstandard 10×25 ft floats 502 within a continuous cover layer 504. Thecover layer 504 protects the inflated floats 502 and forms a textileflex point in the structure. This arrangement permits buckling of theassembly under extreme loads without damage. By staggering the floatelements 502 in a second tube assembly 504 (i.e. the continuous coverlayer), this double-tube system provides for a stable platform forservice, and operation as a causeway if required. Antifouling coatingscan be applied to the topcoat of the embodiment of FIG. 5, if requiredfor example to prevent large accumulations of marine growth.

In preferred embodiments, the FBW floats of the present inventioninclude at least one internal bladder for air holding. In someembodiments, each 25 foot float section is fitted with redundantbladders that permit the FBW 500 to be repaired while deployed. Invarious embodiments, the use of heavy Urethane extruded topcoat layersas part of a two-layer system limits the risk of pack ice damage.Mounting for wear panels can be included at the water line if the systemis at risk from large ice flows.

For embodiments that include only inflated elements in the main floats502 and the upper deck 506, the FWB 500 of the present invention can besunk if necessary in extreme weather. Both very large ice flows andextreme Sea State 7 conditions would suggest that the safest place forthe FBW 500 would be on the bottom. Inflation hoses supported onshore-anchored lines may permit re-floating of the system withoutdivers.

FBW Mooring

In preferred embodiments, mooring points 508 are separated at 25 footintervals, and can support a minimum of 25K lbf as the estimated mooringload per 25 foot section when subjected to a 12 foot wave. In preferredembodiments, a design factor of 5 is applied for this type of structure.This requires a load connection to the FBW assembly 500 that is capableof spreading a mooring point load into a 4-5 foot section of FBW covermaterial 504. As in sail making practice, this is accomplished withdoublers and webbing, which are all heat-seal bonded to the basematerials. The loads can be addressed with these methods and materials.However, chafing that results from excessive FBW motion in higher seastates 510 is a concern. The first step to address this chafe issue isto limit motion by the pre-tensioning of the mooring lines 512. Thesecond step in various embodiments is the use of synthetic beach 514 andkelp 516 assemblies as stabilizers to reduce motion. Finally in someembodiments the mooring connections include low-friction sliders,combined with abrasion-resistant sacrificial nylon layers.

As can be seen from the full layout of the embodiment of FIG. 6, themoorings 512 for the breakwater 500, the causeway 600 and the ships 106can all be separate, thereby providing good redundancy in the design. Aswave and wind storm loads increase, larger vessels (3000 ton) 106 willneed to move off shore and get clear. This will free up these largemoorings for use as a safety on the FBW 500 and causeway 600. Lighterageand small craft will have to stay behind the protection of the FBW 500and will also need added mooring capacity to prevent dragging.

Reduction of Mooring loads on the FBW 500 will make the system morereliable, lower cost, improve the mean time between repairs (“MTBR”),and system availability. The literature includes the use of a low angleof incidence FBW such as the RIBs system (see FIG. 4). Based on theproblems associated with along-shore currents 108 and the very largesystem length of the RIBs design, embodiments of the present inventioninclude a FBW 500 that is moored parallel to the wave line 104. Wavereflection in this configuration is limited.

Beach and Kelp Assemblies

Preferred embodiments of the present invention include a mesh skirt thatforms a simulated beach 514 in front of the FBW assembly 500. In somepreferred embodiments the beach 504 is between 30 and 40 ft long, andextends at a slope from the main tubes 502. The slope angle iscontrolled by mooring lines 512 and out-hauls 602 on the beach seawardedge. A Bascom analysis of wave energy distribution puts the majority ofthe energy at a depth equal to 2/9'ths of the wave length. Realistic seastate design criteria therefore puts the wave length at approximately90-100 ft. This results in a synthetic beach design depth ofapproximately 20 ft. The temporary synthetic beach 514 is intended tolimit wave height. However, this approach can tend to force the waves tobreak. While wave breaking is a very effective energy reductiontechnique, it can have adverse affects on the FBW 500 main structure.

In some embodiments, wave breaking is mitigated by the addition of anartificial kelp bed 516 made of polypropylene textile strips withinherent buoyancy. The strips are long with respect to their mounteddepth (see FLOW AND FLEXIBILITY, THE ROLES OF SIZE AND SHAPE INDETERMINING WAVE FORCES ON THE BULL KELP NEREOCYSTIS LUETKEANA MARK W.DENNY,*, BRIAN P. GAYLORD1 AND EDWIN A. COWEN2, Hopkins Marine Stationof Stanford University, Department of Biological Sciences, PacificGrove, Calif. 93950, USA and 2Civil Engineering Department, StanfordUniversity, Pacific Grove, Calif. 93950, USA Accepted October 1997,herein incorporated by reference) (see also Effect of the kelp Laminariahyperborea upon sand dune erosion and water particle velocities, StigMagnar Løvås and Alf Tørum, Department of Coastal and Ocean Engineering,Civil and Environmental Engineering, SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture,Klobuveien 153, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway, herein incorporated byreference).

The artificial kelp 516 is designed to reduce wave height in the run upthe synthetic beach 514 and reduce the violence of the breaking wave.There are a number of design tools which the beach 514 and kelp 516assemblies offer. By making the synthetic beach 514 from open meshmaterial and adjusting its deployed slope, wave behavior can be furthercontrolled. In addition, the use of the kelp 516 permits additionaladjustment of the incoming wave height. And in some embodiments, thekelp and/or synthetic beach include low surface energy fibers and/orfilms such as olefins and polypropylenes to remove oil from both surfaceand water columns and the surface zone in the event of an oil spill oraccident

Top Deck Assembly

Various embodiments include a rigid top deck 506 of textile cells. Thisdeck assembly 506 is integral with the outer cover 504 of the main tubes502. The top deck cells 506 can be simply inflated and/or can be foamfilled. Embodiments that use only inflation are very simple to retrieve,and these embodiments can be sunk and refloated for storm and iceprotection. However, embodiments in which the top deck cells are filledwith urethane provide greater durability. In some of these embodiments,the textiles are coated with urethane. Foam materials soften textileurethane coatings and form a high strength bond to the textile. This2-part foam is simple to mix and inject into a manifold panel assembly.These foam-cell textile assemblies are very tough, and need only a thinhard surface skin to permit vehicle transport.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Lines

The ground tackle required for the claimed FBW system is not low inmass. The total soft goods mass is between ⅓ and ½ of the expectedanchor mass required for the system. In the event that a deployment incoral is required, the use of low mass cordage would not be acceptable,and chain would be required, adding significant additional mass to themooring budget.

The design of self-embedding anchors is not a new area of engineering.For the breakwater alone, the expected requirement is 25-30 long tons ofanchor capacity. Novel anchor systems such as jetted or screw typeanchors may be able to reduce the required anchor mass. Some embodimentsemploy vacuum pile anchoring systems for high strength lightweightmooring. Existing Side Load Warping Tug (SLWT) units and other equipmenthave winch and A-frame gear which may provide a capability to rapidlyset such non-traditional anchors.

Causeway

An M1A tank 700 at 61 long tons has been used as the criteria forcauseway flotation and structural design. This load can be supported byembodiments of the present invention having a 5 foot minimum freeboard,and some embodiments include up to 8.5 ft of freeboard with alternativefloat designs to improve compatibility with INLS units. The top deck andfloats of the causeway 600 represents a trade space for selection ofvarious embodiments.

In FIGS. 6-7, embodiments are illustrated with a common 10′×25′ roundfloat 702 shown at 20 foot centers. These embodiments minimize thenumber of floats 702 but maximize demands on the structural performanceof the top deck. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the common round floats 702can be moved together to provide greater support and stability, at theexpense of requiring more floats 702. The same tradeoffs for inflationand foam filling systems apply in this case as for the breakwater.

With reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B, other embodiments include floats witha square or rectangular form. The square design provides full support tothe upper deck and allows a simple belt design for the Deck layerwithout any inflated beams. Even though the M1A 700 has a high mass, thecontact pressures for the treads are approximately 12 psi. Of the M1A700, the full vehicle area distributed load is as low as 3 psi. Theseare modest design loads for the Causeway hard surface and can besupported with a single thin hard surface panel that bears directly onsquare main floats.

Logistics

As illustrated in FIG. 10, in preferred embodiments an LCU 1610 classvessel 1000 can be used as the primary transport and deployment vessel.For example, forward on the LCU deck, a 40′ ISO container 1002 can beused to contain the breakwater cover 514 and beach kelp 516 assemblies.The breakwater main float tubes 502, which are in a 20′ ISO container1004, can be transported in a second position on the deck of the LCU1000, and the causeway floats 702 and top deck 600 can be contained in a30′ ISO and transported in a third position 1006 on the LCU deck.

A large fairlead assembly 1008 on the bow of the LCU 1000 can feed thesoft goods components 1002, 1004, 1006. Beside the soft goods containers1002, 1004, 1006 the mooring system components 1010 are also on the LCUdeck. Three ship anchors 1012 and their rods can be loaded as deck cargoon a RORO rail assembly 1014. The 24 anchors and mooring lines for thebreakwater can be transported in two 40′ ISO containers 1016 withintegrated RORO rails 1018 that run straight through. Container layouton the LCU deck can thereby be designed to permit full deployment of theclaimed invention without re-positioning of container units. The LCU1000 is large enough to deliver the system containers. In addition, asecond vessel such as a LCM-8 or MPF 1020 utility boat is required insupport of a deployment mission to manage the static ends duringdeployment and to support the inflation process.

Deployment

Deployment of preferred embodiments includes 5 primary steps. Withreference to FIG. 11, first the ship 1000 and causeway anchors 1012 andmooring lines 512 are set from the roll-off rails on the LCU 1000. Asillustrated in FIG. 12, the seaward breakwater anchors 1016 and thecover/beach/kelp assembly 516 are then set along the outer mooring linewith the aid of the second vessel 1020. The second vessel 1020 alsoprovides the inflation air to float the system. The baseline process hasthe tube floats 502, 702 drawn through a messenger tube in the forwardcontainer 1002. This permits packing of the cover 504 and the mainfloats 502 in separate containers positioned in line on the deck. Theseaward anchors 1012 are placed as the FBW 500 is deployed.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, step 3 is backhaul of the breakwater toleeward.

Step 4, as shown in FIG. 14, consists of setting the leeside mooringsfor the FBW 500 from the LCU 1000, using the utility boat 1020 to ferrythe mooring lines 512 to personnel on the breakwater top deck 600. Step5, as shown in FIG. 15, is deployment of the causeway unit from thethird soft goods container 1006 on the LCU deck. The utility boat 1020will draw out the uninflated units and inflate the system as it proceedsto shore.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light ofthis disclosure. It is intended that the scope of the invention include,but not be limited by this detailed description, nor limited by theclaims appended hereto.

1. A temporary floating breakwater comprising: a plurality of inflatablemodules; and an encapsulating fabric cover configured for surroundingthe inflatable modules when they are inflated, and thereby maintainingthe inflatable modules in close proximity to one another; the floatingbreakwater when deployed being of sufficient size and having suitablecharacteristics for protecting shorelines and watercraft from waveshaving heights of more than 10 feet.
 2. The temporary floatingbreakwater of claim 1, further comprising a semi-permeable sloping beachsection which is extendable from the encapsulating fabric cover so as tocause approaching waves to break before reaching the encapsulatingfabric cover.
 3. The temporary floating breakwater of claim 2, whereinthe sloping beach section includes at least one of low surface energyfibers and films such as olefins and polypropylenes configured to removeoil from both surface and water columns and the surface zone in theevent of an oil spill or accident.
 4. The temporary floating breakwaterof claim 2, further comprising a bed of simulated floating kelp materialattached to the sloping beach and configured for absorbing energy fromwaves approaching the encapsulating fabric cover.
 5. The temporaryfloating breakwater of claim 4, wherein the bed of simulated floatingkelp material includes at least one of low surface energy fibers andfilms such as olefins and polypropylenes configured to remove oil fromboth surface and water columns and the surface zone in the event of anoil spill or accident.
 6. The temporary floating breakwater of claim 1,further comprising a rigid top deck of textile cells integral with theencapsulating cover and supportable by the plurality of inflatablemodules so as to serve as a causeway.
 7. The temporary floatingbreakwater of claim 1, wherein the plurality of inflatable modules canbe deflated so as to temporarily sink the floating breakwater andthereby avoid damage due to surface hazards.
 8. The temporary floatingbreakwater of claim 1, wherein each inflatable module includes aplurality of air-enclosing flotation bladders.
 9. The temporary floatingbreakwater of claim 1, wherein the inflatable floating modules areconfigured for filling with urethane foam.
 10. The temporary floatingbreakwater of claim 1, wherein the inflatable modules are one of squareand rectangular in cross section.
 11. The temporary floating breakwaterof claim 1, further comprising a floating causeway formed by a pluralityof floating modules and a causeway top surface supported thereby. 12.The temporary floating breakwater of claim 1, further comprising mooringpoints suitable for attachment of mooring lines thereto.
 13. Thetemporary floating breakwater of claim 12, wherein the mooring pointsare each able to sustain 25 k lbf applied by a mooring line.
 14. Thetemporary floating breakwater of claim 12, wherein the mooring pointsinclude abrasion-resistant sacrificial nylon layers.
 15. The temporaryfloating breakwater of claim 12, further comprising a plurality ofmooring lines and a plurality of anchors configured for stabilizing alocation of the floating breakwater when deployed on a body of water.16. The temporary floating breakwater of claim 15, wherein the pluralityof anchors includes at least one vacuum pile anchoring system.
 17. Atemporary floating breakwater system, comprising: a plurality ofinflatable floating breakwater support modules; an encapsulating fabriccover configured for surrounding the inflatable floating breakwatersupport modules when they are inflated, and thereby maintaining theinflatable floating breakwater modules in close proximity to oneanother; a floating causeway formed by a plurality of floating causewaymodules and a causeway top surface which is supportable thereby; and aplurality of mooring lines and anchors configured for stabilizing alocation of the floating breakwater and floating causeway when thefloating breakwater and floating causeway are deployed on a body ofwater; the floating breakwater system when deployed being of sufficientsize and having suitable characteristics for protecting shorelines andwatercraft from waves having heights of more than 10 feet.
 18. Thetemporary floating breakwater system of claim 17, wherein the floatingbreakwater system is configured for packaging in a plurality ofcontainers suitable for simultaneous transport on the deck of vesselhaving a size and general characteristics comparable to an LCU 1610class vessel.
 19. The temporary floating breakwater of claim 18, whereinthe temporary floating breakwater system is configured for deploymentfrom the deck of the vessel with the assistance of a utility vessel.